That's the Way I Loved You
by m.ashesfallingdown
Summary: Set five years after the dollhouse. Aria is living an almost normal life. She has her beautiful daughter and wonderful fiance, and for a moment, everything is perfect. Then again, she never really planned to have Ezra show up on her doorstep nearly five years after the birth of their daughter. The only problem is Ezra doesn't exactly know he's a dad... (Title credit Taylor Swift)
1. Chapter 1

"I know we have some cheese…" I mumble to myself, digging through the contents of the fridge once again. You can't make grilled cheese without the cheese, and I could have sworn I asked Jake to bring some home only a few days ago.

The sound of the doorbell echos through kitchen, pulling my search to a halt. "Ada? Can you answer the door, please?!" I shout, refusing to let a simple block of cheddar cheese win this battle. I hear my daughter's clumsy footsteps bound down the stairs before I hear her answer.

"Yes, Mommy!"

Her little voice makes me smile, but I quickly return to my search. After moving a jar of unopened jam that has most likely been in the fridge for months, I catch a glimpse of the orange brick. "Ah-ha!" I mumble to myself again, this time in victory. Ada must have been the last one to put it away.

"Mommy, someone's at the door for you," Ada mumbles, coming to stand in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Ok, baby. I'll be right there."

"Is lunch almost ready? I'm _starving,_ " she whines, looking at the beginnings of a grilled cheese sandwich sitting idly on the counter.

"I'll finish it in a minute, ok? Let me answer the door first. Just go play with your toys for a little bit longer," I reply, doing my best to reason with a four year old.

All I get in return is a unhappy frown before Ada's bounding up the stairs once again.

A long sigh escapes my lips as I head for the front door. "Sorry, I was just making lunch for A-" My rushed apology is cut short when I see him. That curly hair and blue-eyed combination stops my heart in its tracks. I don't speak, heck, I don't even move, I just stand there, shell-shocked by the flood of memories this man's presence triggers.

"Hello, Aria," he says, raising his hand in an awkward wave.

What feels like days of silence pass between us before I'm able to regain somewhat control of my body. "Hello Ezra," I choke, wondering how long it will take him before he realizes that's the best I can manage.

After five years of missed phone calls, uncontrollable tears, unbearable pain, and quite literally thousands of "I almost do's," that's what I give him; a strangled, scratchy, unplanned hello.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter One

"What are you- How did you know-" My voice shakes as I try to piece together one coherent thought, but I physically can't. My brain won't function when he's so close to me, to Ada.

"I know this must seem weird, especially since we haven't talked in years, but I was watching the news the other day when that story of you and the girls was on and I just got to wondering how were doing," Ezra explains, his eyes searching mine. For what they were finding, I have absolutely no clue.

I nod, but don't say anything. A couple of months ago, the local news team from Rosewood asked to interview the girls and I as it was the 4 year anniversary since Andrew was arrested. Hanna and Spencer refused, but Emily and I agreed to answer some of their questions. For the most part, is was a pretty innocent interview. The basic, "How are you now" and "What have you done to move on" questions monopolized the majority of the time. It was only to air on that one small news channel, so, to say the least, I was shocked Ezra had even seen it.

"I'm sorry, you must think I'm completely crazy to show up so out of the blue like this. I would have called, but you must have changed your number because I…" He continued to ramble, trying to fill the awkward space my lack of speech left, I'm sure.

"It's OK, Ezra, really. I'm just… really surprised to see you, that's all," I say, doing my best to sound convincing.

He easily sees through my facade, throwing me an apologizing smile. I haven't seen one of those in so long, my heart literally skips a beat.

"You look really good, Aria. You look happy," he says, not really as a compliment, but more as though he is just pointing out the obvious.

I sigh through a smile, but the sound of the fridge opening and closing reminds me of the very big reason why I just can't be doing this right now.

"I'm sorry you had to make the trip all the way here, but now's just not a good time for me to play catch up. I'm sorry," I mumble, looking at anything but his eyes.

Again, Ezra simply smiles. "That's OK, I completely understand. Would it be alright if I gave you my number? Maybe we could meet up for coffee sometime, when you're a little less busy." I know he's giving me the choice, that he's allowing me to decide if I want him back in my life once again or if I'm really done and it terrifies me. But I nod, tentatively smile, patiently wait for him to scrawl his number across a scrap of paper, and shut the door.

For a good five minutes, I stay with my back pressed against the door. It's seems unreal to be holding his handwriting in my hands. I trace each number with my pointer finger over and over until I'm fairly sure I'm wearing the paper away. After one, final big breath, I rip to paper in half and throw it into the garbage underneath our kitchen sink, continuing to make lunch for Ada and myself.

It's not until she's fed and contently watching T.V. in the next room that I dig through the trash until I find each half of paper, carefully taping them back together until his number is completely legible once again.

* * *

"No, I don't like that," Ada replies once again. We're sitting on the couch together while I try to get even the inkling of an understanding as to what Ada might want for her fifth birthday party. She's already shot down four ideas and we're only getting started.

"Oh, Miss Adalee, what am I going to do with you?" I sigh, but I can't help but laugh. I pull her close to me, closer than she already was, I press my lips to the top of her tiny head. I feel her shoulders shrug against my body in reply to my question.

Outside, I hear the sound of Jake's Escape pull into the driveway. The beeping of the automatic lock echos into the house.

"Guess who's home?"

"Daddy?!" Ada questions excitedly, her eyes growing larger. I nod my head as she bounds off my lap, making a beeline for the front door.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" She chants, only making me laugh once again.

"Is that my Princess Ada I hear?" Jake asks excitedly, coming through the front door and easily scooping up our daughter.

Ava's tiny laugh fills the air as she wraps her arms around her dad. "Me and mommy missed you today," She explains excitedly.

As close as I am to Ada, she's very much a daddy's little girl. Everything that Jake does, Ada closely follows, no matter what it is. She is absolutly his everything and he is completely her idol. Their relationship blows me away every single day, and my heart still ache's with gratefulness that Jake came into our lives.

"Hello beautiful," Jake mumbles against my hair, pressing his lips against my head while wrapping his one free arm around me.

"Welcome home," I reply simply, feeling honestly grateful to have him back. Granted, he has only been gone since six o'clock this morning, but that was long enough for me.

"A little bird told me you missed me," he says, pretending to be really honored about that comment.

"Yeah, well, don't let it go to your head," I tease, watching as Jake's crooked smile spreads across his face as he sets Ada down. Once his arms are free, Jake immediately pulls me close, allowing him to easily press his lips against mine and I know I'm home.

"Trust me, it's already there," he breaths, making us both laugh. Jake pulls us down on the couch, Ada returning to the room then with four stuffed animals in each hand.

"How was work?" I ask, pulling my feet onto the sofa so I can easily snuggle into his side.

"It was good, really busy though. I think I finally found a guy to replace the teacher of the four and five year old group."

"That's good, he definitely has his work cut out for him with our daughter alone," I reply, Jake laughing and nodding in complete understanding. His laughs cause my head to bounce, making me smile even more.

"Yeah, well, he seems like he'll be really good with the little kids. I'm not too worried. I also went and toured the new building today," he says. I don't even have to see his face to know Jake's pretty excited about opening the new training center.

"Oh, yeah? And how did that go?"

"Man, it's going to be so nice once it's finished. The extra space is beyond needed, especially with all the new things we're planning for this Fall. I think I'm going to have the instructors come over with me next time so they can all get a feel for the space, as well."

"Well, I'm excited for you. It's amazing how much the center has grown in just this past year," I reply, watching Ada strategically place her animals around the living room. I mean, of course an elephant lives on the tile in front of the fireplace.

"I know, it's absolutely crazy. So how was your day?" Jake questions, his massive hands rubbing circles up and down my back.

"Oh, it was good. Ada and I went and saw Mike's new place today." My heart starts to race as I begin to tentatively walk around the subject of Ezra, and I wonder if Jake can hear it.

"Right, you told me you were thinking about doing that. How does it look?"

"Like every other college dorm. Tiny, white, and fairly dirty." Jake laughs in understanding, but I can't bring myself to focus on anything but the looming topic.

"Well, good for Mike. Oh! I almost forgot. Did you by chance have time to fax those papers today? Mark's office emailed me wondering if we needed new copies."

Biting my lip hard, I stand up and move towards the kitchen. I know this is the perfect time to bring up Ezra, but I feel guilty doing so wrapped in Jake's arms. "Um, I didn't, actually. I'll get on that tomorrow, I promise." I begin unloading the dishwasher, doing anything to keep my hands from shaking.

"It's fine, Ar, don't feel bad. In fact, I can probably do it myself tomorrow anyways. Can you believe we're almost done with all of this? After Mark clears these documents, alls we need to do is contact Ezra and get his signature."

My eyes flash up to Jake's eyes for a moment, quickly refocusing on their mundane task once they read the blatant excitement there.

Feeling unbelievably cruel, I take a deep breath before starting. "You know? Something weird did happen today," I begin, not surprised when my voice wavers mid sentence.

"Yeah?"

"I was… Well, I was making lunch when, um…" I pause, trying my best to put my thoughts into words. "Ezra actually… Well, he actually came by today." The sentence is almost a whisper, but I know Jake heard me anyways.

He freezes on the couch, not moving an inch of his body, heck, I don't even think he bothered to breath. I grab the counter for support as I patiently wait for him to thaw.

"Ada, honey, will you please put your toys away and go brush your teeth? Mommy and I will be up in a sec to tuck you in, alright?" Jake's tone hints at the effort required to sound so calm, and I feel even worse.

After Ada pads her way up the stairs, animals in tow, he comes into the kitchen so he's standing by me. After closing the dishwasher, Jake tentatively prys my hands from the counter so he's holding them in his.

"He came here?" His voice is worried and quiet, and it doesn't take long before I realize he's waiting for me to break.

"Yes."

"How did he even know where you live? Did you tell him or…"

"No, no of course not," I reply easily to this suspicion. "I… I haven't seen him or talked to him since Ada was a baby… I didn't know, I mean, I was shocked to even see him. It wasn't like that, I didn't-"

"Ssh, it's OK, Ar. It's OK, I didn't think you did, I just had to ask." Jake pulled me tightly against his chest, and only after I saw the water stains on his shirt did I realize I was crying.

"He saw Ada and he didn't even know!" I cried, letting the guilt and pain finally eat me alive. Jake held me tighter as a sob broke its way up my throat.

"It's not your fault, you did what you had to do," he assured me calmly. "And you know, maybe it isn't such a bad thing Ezra came back into our lives. We need him to sign over his parental rights if I'm going to adopt Ada anyways, so maybe this was just a jump start we weren't exactly expecting." Jake tried to sound convincing, but I don't believe either of us bought it.

"You make it sound so easy, Jake. I can't just say, 'Hey, by the way you have a daughter you've never known existed, but would you mind just signing away your rights so my fiance can legally adopt her?' He's not going to just agree to that, I can't make him just agree to that." My voice starts to rise as the truth of what I'm saying sinks in, but of course, Jake stays calm, for my sake I'm sure.

"Of course not, it's gonna take some time, we both know that. But we also knew this was coming. Did you talk to him for long? Did he come inside?"

I shake my head against Jake's chest, pulling back so I can read his face. "I didn't know what to say, or even how to begin knowing what to say. And with Ada in the next room? I just couldn't do… all that, so I just said it was a bad time." I begin to wipe the remaining tears from my cheeks, knowing I can't let Ada see me like this.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here with you, for you. If I would have known-"

"Don't apologize," I sniff, "It would have been just as difficult either way, I promise. It didn't help that he showed up by surprise, either."

Jake just nods, kissing my lips lightly once more. "Are you alright?"

"I will be," I assure him, giving him the best smile I can manage.

And that's what I tell myself while trying to fall asleep that night, Jake passed out by my side. Over and over again, I tell myself "I will be alright, I will be alright." It's not until the sun is shining through our bedroom window, giving some life to my unrested eyes, that I realize somewhere along the way, "I will be" became "I have to be."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you so, so much for taking the time to read this story! I would love to hear your thoughts, questions, or suggestions so please feel free to comment! Thanks again!**

Chapter Two

It's been two weeks since Ezra unexpectedly showed up on my doorstep. Even with the extra time to let everything sink in, I still struggle sleeping at night. It's like every ounce of energy I can summon up is wasted on worrying about him and what I will inevitably have to explain.

Ada has always reminded me of her biological father. She has his same curly, dark hair and near perfect dimples. Her smile looks likes his, her laugh echos the same essence of his. In the beginning, right after she was born, it nearly killed me having that constant reminder of him in my life, but I love my daughter. I love her more than I've ever loved anything, and these pieces of Ezra were apart of her. Whether I wanted to or not, over time I began realizing that I adored the Ezra in her, too. It made Ada my daughter, but it also made her his, and I was ok with that. Ezra is a good man, and while Ada's life was never planned, I've never been ashamed of the fact that he is her biological father. But I also never expected to see him again.

These past two weeks have been exhausting, quite literally self inflicted torture. I can't help but recall all the life, all the memories and joy and sadness and love, we once held between us. And it's not that I don't love Jake, because I do. I love him and Ada more than my life and I never foresee that changing. I've just been trying to deny the existence of a man who gave me my whole world for five years, a man I used to deeply love in the hardest time of my life. And these past two weeks have altered the way I've been living. I can't deny that he exists and I can't forget that we share something that will bind us for life. Adalee Monroe.

As much I tried to hide my turmoil, Jake noticed. He was worried for my own sake, but also for Ada's, what with her mother falling to pieces. He pushed me to call Ezra, if fact, he offered to do it himself, but I wasn't ready. I needed more time to process everything, to get my story straight and my words in line. How do you tell someone that they have a child you've hid from them for nearly five years? You don't, that's how.

Over the past two weeks, I've thought a lot about the way Ezra reacted when Maggie told him about Malcolm. He was angry, but he was so good to the little boy he believed to be his son. And Malcolm was older than Ada is, but then again, Malcolm didn't actually end up being Ezra's. That could never be the endgame for Ada. I wondered if Ezra would think I was mocking him by repeating the Malcolm scene again?

More guilt ate way at my bones, but I didn't try to stop it. Before I could give it a second thought, I loaded up Ada in the car and started the hour drive to my mom's house.

Glancing at my sleeping baby in the rear view mirror, I took a deep breath. I was doing this for her, I had to do this for Ada's sake.

"Aria? What are you doing here?" My mom questioned puzzledly, shutting her front door behind her.

"Hey Mom," I greeted, hugging her tightly before motioning back to the car. "Is there any way you can watch Ada for a few hours? I have some last minute errands to run and she's already fallen asleep." My voice is light, but I'm fairly sure I'm the only one who could detect the lie hidden within it.

"Of course I can, honey," My mom answers easily, lighting up by the mention of her granddaughters name.

"Thank you so much, you're a lifesaver!" Opening the car door, I rub my finger lightly against Ada's cheek.

"Baby girl," I coo quietly, Ada not even moving an inch of a muscle. Instead of fighting that battle, I quickly unbuckle her and pull her into my arms. She starts fussing a bit, but seamlessly falls back asleep once she's cradled against my shoulder. I kiss her curls lightly before handing her off to my mom.

"I'm not sure when I'll be back, but her bag should have everything you need. Her sippy cup is in the outside pocket and I packed her some fruit snacks in case she gets hungry," I instruct.

My mom laughs at my expression. "I think I can handle taking care of my granddaughter for one afternoon, sweetie."

"Sorry, I know you can Mom. Thanks again. I'll call you when I'm about finished up, alright?"

"Sounds good. Have fun running your errands!"

I throw her a somewhat smile before climbing back into the car. "I sure will!" I reply sarcastically, but I'm already pulling out of the driveway. I need to get out of here before I have another "I can't do this" breakdown.

My mom waves with Ada in her arms as I driveway. I watch them through the mirrors until I can't anymore. Before turning back onto the freeway, I pull out Ezra's number from where I've been keeping it stashed between my phone and phone case. I bite my nails as I listen to it ring.

"Hello?" He answers, his voice noting that he clearly does not recognize the number.

"Hey Ezra, it's Aria. I was wondering if I could still take you up on that coffee break."

* * *

I slowly pulled up to the coffee shop Ezra had directed me to. It is tucked away in a line of older buildings sitting about an hour and a half outside of Rosewood and another 45 minutes from where Jake and I lived. I had never been here, but Ezra seemed quite fond of the place over the phone.

While I idled the car, I didn't have the courage to face him just yet. "Just breathe," I whispered to myself, trying to not hyperventilate. "You can do this."

I took my time walking inside, pausing every so often to take in nearly every detail of the small building. Granted, the building was so small I spotted Ezra the second I was inside. He stands and waves when he sees me too.

"I'm so glad you called," Ezra exclaims, throwing his arms around me in a friendly hug. It's awkward and slightly suffocating, but I return the favor anyways.

I just nod and sit down, trying hard to not think about what I'm doing.

"I haven't ordered yet, is there anything you would like?" He offers kindly, returning my nervous-half smile with an astonishingly real one.

I give Ezra my order, making sure to stress the decaf because heaven knows I don't need anything else to hype me up. While I'm waiting for him to return, I look around the building a bit more and decide I like how small it it. It feels cozy and warm, but is still interesting with the mismatched, bright, and eclectic furniture used to decorate the place. To be honest, I'm kind of surprised I have never been here, considering how close it is to my home and how much I love coffee.

"Here is your decaf iced coffee with milk," Ezra says, handing me the carmel colored drink.

"Thanks," I reply, sipping lightly at it, making sure he knows I don't know how to be the one to start this conversation. He's a smart guy and catches on.

"So do you like the place?" He questions, motioning to our already noted surroundings.

"Yeah, it's really nice. I was just thinking that it was weird how I had never been here before…" I let my sentence trail off, Ezra clearly knowing the rest.

"I'm glad you think so. I actually just bought it a couple months ago," he states, clearly happy with himself.

"You bought it?! Wow, Ezra that's awesome! I know you sold The Brew, but did you decide to keep up that business?" I'm honestly surprised to hear this. I figured when Ezra sold my hometown coffee shop, he decided to go down a different career path.

"Yeah, actually, I did. This place brings my total to nine that I own, not counting The Brew, of course. The money from selling that place ended up helping me buy two more, oddly enough."

"Nine? Well, it looks like you've become quite the business man."

Ezra laughs, humbly shaking his head. "I don't know if I'd go as far as to call myself that, but enough about me. What have you been up to these days? Are you still in college or are you working...?"

An air filled laugh escapes my lips before I can stop it. To think, he has absolutely no idea how completely my life has been turned around in the past five years… It really is quite comical. "No, I'm not currently attending college at the moment. Right after I graduated I took some online classes through UPenn and was able to get a degree in digital photography that I've used a little in the past couple of years, but that's about it." I look down at the table while talking, feeling pretty insufficient after learning Ezra owns nine coffee shops.

"'That's about it?' Aria! That's incredible! I didn't know you ever considered getting a degree in photography, but I'm not surprised. You have an amazing talent as a photographer," he praises, and it almost sounds sincere.

I smile but shake my head. "Well, thank you, but I'm still hoping to someday go back. I actually want to get my Bachelors in English, believe it or not." Another smile plays on the edge of my lips as I think back to that first day that we met, when I told Ezra I was thinking about studying English just as he had. "Some things never change, I guess." His smile has something telling me that he's thinking about it, too.

"Why didn't you just get your English Degree after high school? Why go through the extra money and energy to get your degree in photography and just prolong the process of doing what you really want to do?" It's not hard to see that he's honestly just curious, but Ezra's question feels bold and invasive in a way he doesn't understand. I try not to take it personally.

"Well, I originally planned on majoring in English and minoring in photography, but after I had the baby I couldn't really do both, at least not at the same time. So I decided to focus strongly on getting into a photography program and put the English plan on the backburner for the time being. Plus, getting a degree in digital photography isn't difficult to do online, which allowed me to stay home with my daughter." I don't even breathe until I'm completely finished talking, and my heart races as Ezra's eyes widen with my honest confession.

He doesn't speak for a moment, and I don't blame him. That's an awful lot of personal information to suddenly hear from your ex-girlfriend who you haven't seen for half a decade. Little does he know my story only gets more personal.

"Right. I thought that little girl who answered the door looked a great deal like you. Congratulations, anyway. I guess I'm a little late though… What's her name?"

"Thanks. Adalee Monroe Montgomery, but we just call her Ada." I smile as I see the light in Ezra's eyes brighten. Only he would understand…

"Ada Monroe? As in the Ada Monroe from _Cold Mountain_?" He laughs.

"Guilty as charged."

"Only you would name your child after a character in that book," he chuckles.

"Hey! Don't hate on _Cold Mountain._ I honestly like that book." I try to sound stern, but I end up just laughing as well.

"Of course you do. Wow, look at you now, Aria. Already married with kids. You're more ahead in life than me! And I'm six years older!" Ezra chuckles again, but he has me utterly confused.

"Married?" I question. Who told him I was married?

Ezra motions to the ring sitting comfortably upon my left hand. "I guess I just assumed-"

"Engaged," I correct, moving my finger so Jake's ring shimmers in the light. "Not married, just planning to be. And I only have one child."

Ezra takes another sip of his coffee and smiles. "I'm happy for you Aria, I really am."

"Thank you, I'm happy too. My little family is everything to me," I smile as I think about Jake and Ada, looking through my eyelashes up at Ezra knowing I have to ruin him. My smile quickly fades. "What about you? Are you dating anyone? Or do you even have time to date anyone while owning nine coffee shops?"

Ezra laughs, and his head shakes in a weird yes and no motion. "I've dated a little here and there. I actually almost proposed to a girl about a year ago."

"Almost?" I question.

"I had the ring and everything. I knew exactly how it was gonna play out, down to the very last minute. But a few days before I planned on popping the question, Alyssa told me she got accepted into Ghent University in Belgium so…" Ezra trails off, and I can tell how much this hurt me.

"I'm so sorry, Ezra. That's awful, I can't even imagine." I apologize, not bothering to ask any more questions on that subject. A strange urge to comfort him runs through my veins. I suppress it quickly, feeling totally inept.

"Don't be. It's really ok, and you're right about the nine coffee shops keeping me busy. Right now, I'm plan on pouring all of my energy into my career," he summarizes, telling me the same thing he tells himself everyday, I'm sure.

I nod, pretending like I understand. "Can I ask you something?"

A look of worry immediately crosses Ezra's face, but he hides it quickly. "Sure, anything you want."

"Why haven't you gone back to teaching? I only ask because I know how much you loved it and you asked why I'd prolong doing what I really want to do. I guess I'm just asking you the same question." Stumbling through my words, I sound like a little girl who just got caught with gum in her hair.

Ezra pauses, clearly thinking about his answer. "I planned to after I left Rosewood. I planned on moving as far away from that cursed town as geographically possible and restarting my life, my teaching career included. I knew it would somewhat difficult, considering, umm…" He pauses for a minute, his eyes flashing to mine before quickly refocusing on whatever blank space they were originally enamored by. "Considering my past offenses while in the position of a teacher, but I was willing to try anyway. I sent out applications to schools from Florida to Washington, some I never heard from, but I did land about twelve interviews. I guess it just came down to the fact that I associated teaching with Rosewood, and seeing as I was trying to escape every aspect of that place, I decided I didn't want to go back to teaching. So I used the money from The Brew to not move across the country, but instead buy two local coffee shops and continue down that path."

"Well it seems to have worked out well for you in the end," I summarize, feeling a little self conscious that he brought up the whole student-teacher thing.

Ezra nods, glancing at his watch. "It's almost two o'clock. Is there any way I can convince you to get a bite to eat?" He offers, smiling that crooked smile.

I laugh, but I don't even have to think about my answer. "I really have to get back. Ada's at my mom's house and Jake will be home in a few hours, but thanks for the offer. And thanks for the coffee, as well. Seeing you again has been… really good."

"Of course, of course. Well maybe we could all go out to dinner sometime. I'd love to meet your daughter and fiance, and see you again, as well."

While Ezra's offer sounds like my idea of a death sentence, I nod and smile in return. "Yeah, well maybe we could do something like this again sometime," I offer, hoping he doesn't see the flush of color that reddens my cheeks by the thought of seeing him once more, knowing I still have so much to tell him.

"That would be great." He smiles as he stands, grabbing his near empty cup and, although I don't realize it at first, waits for me to do so, as well.

We walk out the door in near silence, Ezra's friendly greetings to some of the employees the only conversation between us. My ears burn as the words I know I have to say bite the end of my tongue.

I pause on the sidewalk, a few feet from my car. "Ezra?" I question, pulling him from whatever reviere of thought he was swimming in.

He waits patiently for me to continue, probably growing suspicious of my mental stability.

I bite my lip and chicken out. "Thanks again for the coffee," I mutter, hurrying around to the driver's side of my car. I don't look behind me, but I can feel his eyes watching as I awkwardly climb my 5'2" body into the car. I offer a small wave before pulling away from the curb.

Before even hitting the freeway, the choking sobs begin to rack their way through my body.


End file.
